Trolley pole for trackless trolley cars



E. L. KRAFT'. TROLLEY POLE FOR TRACKLESS TROLLEY CARS.

APPLLCATION HLED JUNE 8, 192i.

l wuenfoz Patented Apr. 4

`UNI'IED STATES .PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD LUTHER KRAFT, 0F YORK, PENNSYLVANA, ASSIGNOR TO ATLAS TRUCK CORPORATION, 0F YQRK, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORE'ORATION OF DELAWARE.

TROLLEY POLE FOR TRACKLESS TROLLEY CARS..

LailLSLiS).

Application filed June 8,

'o all /uj /1 om. it may concern Be it known that l, lnwAA in Lorman KRAFT, a citizen of the Unit-ed States of America, and a resident of York, county of York, and State of Pennsylvania, have iuvented certain new and useful Improvements in rllrolley Poles for Tracldess Trolley Cars, of which the following is a full and clear specification. l

This invention has relation to that class of trolley-poles especially adapted for cars or busses that operate without tracks, being; free to be steered over a predetermined zone in the roadway without disconnecting' the trolley from the overhead trolley-wire.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation of my apparatus; y

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views hereinafter described.' Y

Referring' to the drawing, 5 designates a tube depending through the car structure and rigidly atHXed thereto, preferably by a top flange 6 resting on the foot-board on the top of the car and, by means of a pair of flanged nuts 7, screwed on the exterior of the tube 5 and adapted to clamp the roof 8 of the car structure.

Mounted to rotate on the tube 5 is a head 9 which is supported on the tube by suitable roller-bearings 10 surrounding the tube 11 which depends through the st.- tionary tube 5, said. tube 1 1 beingrigidly atiixed to the head 9 so as to turn with it. To the head 9 is pivoted the trolley-pole 12, which, for the sake of lightness and iiexibility, is desirably made of wood, preferably bamboo. A set of retractil@ springs 13 normally tend to throw the trolley-pole upwardly, as usual. Within tl'iehead 9 is mounted a pulley 14., and extending rearwardly and downwardly from the head 9 is a rigid tube 15 carryingr at its forward end a pulley 16, housed in a casing; 17 screwed to the extreme end of said tube 15. A cable 18 has its free end connected to the trolley-pole and then extends down into the casing17, around the pulley 1.6, into the tube 15, over the pulley 111, and down throuUh the tube 11, terminating within the car. j:Projecting forwardly from the tube 15 is a guard-rod 19 which prevents the cable 18 from becomin looped around the forward end of the stationary tube 15 When- Spccoaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4,1922.

1921. y serial no, 478,040. i

over the payed-out portion of the cable becomes loose enough to hang" down far enough to loop around said forward end of the tube 15, which looseness occurs occasionally iu the ordinary operation of the trolley. '.he tube 15 is braced to the head 9 by means of a rigid st-ayerod 20, thereby providing' a light yet very rigid rotatable headstructure for the trolley-pole.

The end of the tube 11 depends to a point below the lower end of the tube 5 and has screwed to it a casing' 2l, which encloses a pulley 22 atliied to a. shaft 23. The cable 18 isl wound upon the pulley22 so that by turning` the shaft 23 the cable may be drawn-in to pull the trolley-pole down into non-use position, or payed-out to permit it to normally swing upwardly into operative position. rlhe shaft 23 is manually rotated by means of a wheel 24C affixed to one end of the shaft 23, and iny order to keep the operator acquainted with the position of the trolley-pole at all times so that he will be able to avoid steering the vehicle far enough toward either side of the trolley conductor to dislodge the trolley from the wire, I provide an arcuate indicating plate on the stationary tube 5 and an arrow or pointer 26 on the rotatable casing 21. It will be understood that the casing 21, together with the pulley therein and the operating; wheel 24s, all rotate bodily with the rotatable tube 11. this rotatability being a free one in order to permit the trolley-pole to follow the trolleywire as the vehicle is steered to one side or the other thereof. A second anti-friction bearing` 27 is provided near the lower end of tbe tube 11 in order to maintain the same in upright position, and., in order to hold the drum 22 against rotation when the trolley-pole is down, I provide a suitable ratchet, device 2S.

'lt will be observed that the drum 22 is narrow, having its cable-receiving groove only a little greater than the diameter of the cable, so that the cable is compelled to wind on the drum clock-spring-fashion, thereby avoiding as much as possible the rubbing of the cable against the lower end of the tube 11 as the cable is drawn-in or payedfout.

The numeral 29 designates an upstanding lug which is adapted to be struck by a lug 30 on the rotatable structure and thereby prevent this structure from making a complete rotation.

The nature and scope of the invention havin been thus indicated and its preferred emlmdiment having been specifically described, what is claimed as new is:

1. A trolley-pole structure embodyin a trolley-pole attached to a rotatable heat, a

bearing tube depending through the roof structure of the car and into the car interior and adapted to rotatably support saidhead, a cable-tube attached to the head and depending `through said stationary bearingtube, a bearing in saidbearing-tube for the lower end of the cable-tube, a cable connected to the trolley-pole and ext-ending down through said `cable-tube, and means attached to the lower end of said cable-tube for paying-out and drawing-in the cable.

2. A trolley-pole structure embodying a trolley-pole attached to a rotatable head, a bearing tube i depending through the root` structure of the car and into the car interior andadapted to rotatably support said head, a cable-tube attached to the head and depending through said stationary bearingtube, a bearing in said bearing-tube for the lower end of thevcabletube,va cable connected `to the trolley-pole and extending down through said cable-tube, and means attached to the lower end of said Acable-tube for paying-outand `drawing-in the cable, said means bein rotatable with the cable tube and embodying a pulleyA and .an enclosing casing.

3. A trolley-pole structure embodyin a. trolley-pole attached to a. rotatable hea a bearing tube-depending throughwthe roof structure of the car and into the car interior and adapted to rotatably Support said head, a cable-tube attached to the head and depending through said stationary bearingtube, a bearing in said bearing-tube for the lower end of the cable-tube, a cable connected to the trolley-pole and extending down through said cable-tube7 and means attached to the lower` end of said cable-tube for paying-out and drawing-in the cable, said meansV embodying an indicating-device showing within the car the position `of the trolleypole. i v

4. In a trolley-pole structure of the type set forth, a rotatable head carrying a springactuated trolley-pole, -means for pulling down the trolley-pole embodying a tube rigidly extending rearwardly from said head and carrying a pulley at its reariend.

5. In a trolley-pole structure ofthe type set forth, a rotatable headcarrying a springactuated trolley-pole, means Vfor pulling down the trolley-pole embodyingy a tuberigidly extending rearwardly from saidhead and carrying a pulley at its rear end, said tube being provided with a rearwardly-extending guard-rod. t

In testimony whereof I hereunto: ailixmy signature.

EDWARD LUTHER KRAFT. 

